See, Chucho Hernandez Melean is going to be 94 next February; he has been around. When he was 10 Gomez held all power and Venezuela was at peace. Roads did not reach Sur del Lago. When he was 20 he saw the madness of oil prospecting while he was digging his trenches in the lands he could take over for free because no one wanted them. He survived the "revolucion de Octubre" and all of its failed promises while the original Venezuelan social contract started to fray. During his most productive years Perez Jimenez was ruling. When he thought he could plan his retirement, roads, electricity, health care arrived Sur del Lago, but also agrarian reform and, later, FARC banditry. He thus went along quietly completing one of the most successful farm complex in Venezuela while the country slowly sunk. He treated right everyone, from the military leeches seeking gifts to, we suppose, less wholesome parasites.
Today Chucho cannot remember all the broken promises but he certainly can remember all that he had to do for himself, to transform swamps in rich grasslands. Or maybe he remembers them too well and knows full well that for all of his recent media exposure he is on his own, that all will immolate him gladly no matter what side they stand. So, in all simplicity he received the minister and the vice president and told them that no problem, they can have the land tomorrow as long as they pay him what is on top of the land. They agreed, for the time being, to save face, Loyo appearing less Komissar-like today, aware that he lost the first media battle out of his own stupidity and arrogance, a lethal combination when you deal with old land cronies who have seen it all.

Imagine that, the minister and the vice-president had to go to Chucho's own little Canossa!

And yet he is certainly not going to let the opposition benefit from it and I agree with him: tonight they could find nothing else but to call for a nation wide "caserolazo", a nation wide pot banging at 8 PM, which was of course a failure. At least here in San Felipe.

Chucho Hernandez Melean knows his fellows citizens only too well, and they have been leeching off him for too long. He is cutting his losses, pissing all sides at the same time. I am impressed.

I won't criticize anything a 93 yr old man does under these circumstances ,and I won't judge the appropriateness of his actions in this case( I simply do not know enough about the details), however to discuss the principle of non violence vs violence:

When people are used to authoritarianism they often behave in an overtly passive or pacifist way- out of fear- or desire to obtain benefits, rather than standing on principle or even long term tactical strategy.Pacifism can often mean opposition to violence under any circumstance, even defense of self and others:

Think of 'Hay que morir callado', so common in Venezuelan thought.

Conscious aggression can save more lives than unconscious pacifism often does.The key lies not in dividing violence from non violence.The key lies in the consciousness behind the 2 types of acts.

Increased pacifism is often the cause of increased violence.When we give permission for others to abuse us, it allows the abuse to continue and ultimately worsen.

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